Chapter 10: Armageddon Part 1

"Unnnngh…what happened?" I moan to myself. "Ohhhh my head." I reach to put my hand on my forehead but realize that I can't lift my hand. I try the other one and can't lift that one either. My eyes shoot open, and I try to sit up, but once again something is restricting my movement and I get the wind knocked out of me. So I lean my head forward as much as possible and quickly take in my surroundings.

It appears to be some sort of cavern, but it's extremely dimly lit. I realize that I lay on a stone table, chained at the wrists, the stomach, and the ankles. My shirt of my uniform has been torn off, and my tights are slashed and ripped. A strange bluish glow is all around me, but I can't see the source. I lay my head back down, and look to my right, and there, on an identical stone table, lies Raven. She lies about 20 feet from my table. Her uniform is torn and shredded, and she is also chained down. A red glow surrounds her, and it comes from a pool circling the stone table filled with a glowing, red liquid. I can only imagine that the blue glow around me comes from a similar pool filled with a blue liquid.

Fade into song

When there's trouble you know who to call

TEEN TITANS

From their tower they can see it all

TEEN TITANS

When there's evil on the attack

You can rest knowing they've got your back

'Cuz when the world needs heroes on patrol

TEEN TITANS...GO!

With they're super-powers they unite

TEEN TITANS

Never met a villain that they liked

TEEN TITANS

They got the bad guys on the run

They'll never stop 'til the job gets done

And when the world is losing all control

TEEN TITANS...GO!

1...2...3...4...GO TEEN TITANS!

Fade out of song

"You're awake…," Raven says to me.

"Yeah, my head is killing me."

"They did this to us," Raven says, nodding slightly to two figures in front of us. I look into the shadows, and the two figures step forward, with evil smirks on their faces. There stand exact replicas of Raven and myself, in school uniforms, and looking completely normal.

"Yes, WE did this to you," shadow Sam says.

"Don't you mean you did this to you?" shadow Raven says sarcastically with a chuckle.

"Who, who are you?" I ask frantically.

"We are the shadow twins," shadow Sam replies.

"We were created to bring you to fulfill your glorious destinies," shadow Raven finishes.

"If you're us, then why doesn't Trigon just use the two of you?" Raven asks with anger in her voice.

"Now, now, don't let your temper out. We wouldn't want you to make a fool of yourself," shadow Sam says mockingly.

"Oh she doesn't have to lose her temper to do that brother," shadow Raven says as she laughs.

"Leave my sister alone! Azarath Metrion Zinthos! Ahhhhhhhh!" I scream in pain as my powers are reversed on myself and send splitting pain throughout my body. The shadow twins roar with laughter at my pain.

"Nice try Psy, but those chains soak up energy from the pool around you and cancel out your powers. The liquid in the pool reacts with the markings on your body, causing your powers to cause you harm instead of anything else," says the voice of Blackfire as she makes her entrance into the chamber. "Shadow twins you have served your master well."

"Thank you mistress Blackfire," the shadow twins say in unison.

"But I'm afraid we won't need the two of you any longer. Your mission has been accomplished. Heshbareth Azazel Lethos!"

"NOOOOOO!" The twins scream as their eyes glow red and they begin to dissolve before our eyes. Their screams fill the cavern. Screams filled with pain and torment. And in one final flash of purple light, they're gone. Raven and I just lay there horrified. She destroyed her two most loyal followers with just three words, probably at Trigon's command.

"Now, to get down to business," Blackfire says with a malicious smile.

"His daughter was born to be his portal." At this Raven's stone table tips itself upright, and swivels to face mine.

"His son shall be his rebirth." Then my table does the same. Raven and I now face each other. I look at Raven, and she looks down. She begins to cry openly.

"He shall reclaim…" Raven begins to glow with a black aura.

"He shall renew…" A black aura surrounds me as well.

"STOP!" shouts an all too familiar voice. Raven and I look up in shock. Standing in the doorway are Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, and Beast Boy.

"It'll be the last thing you'll ever do Blackfire!" another voice calls out. We turn to see Mood Swing, Spectra, Ice and Wildcat on a ledge above us.

"And tell your master Trigon that if he wants Psy and Raven he has to go through us!" We turn again and on the other side of the room stand Eclipse, Solarflare and Gale.

"We've got you surrounded, let Psy and Raven go!" We turn our heads once more to find Terra and Geo-Force standing on the other end of the cave.

I look at Blackfire with a fire burning in my eyes. "It's thirteen against one Blackfire. Any last words before they kick your butt?"

Blackfire smiles back evilly, says in a menacing whisper, "His kingdom on this earth."

The ground starts to shake, and splits between Raven and me.

"Aaargh!" Starfire screams as she soars and rams into her sister Blackfire full force. They crash into the cave wall and begin to fight.

"Ahhhhhh!" Raven and I scream as things start to happen for us to fulfill our destinies.

Flames start to spit up from the giant crack in the ground, and hundreds of flame warriors soar up, ready for battle.

"Terra," Robin shouts, "can you close up that crevice?"

"I'll do what I can. Aarrrrrghh!" Her eyes glow yellow and she closes the crack, and then concentrates on keeping it closed.

"Titans, GO!"

The battle goes on strong and fierce. Everyone battling these monsters from the abyss, as Raven and I continue to transform. Robin throws multiple birdarangs at Raven's chains, and as she begins to fall he uses his grappling hook to rescue her from the red pool underneath her. Simultaneously Mood Swing fires off plasma blasts at my chains, and Eclipse creates a black hole under me and another next to him so that as I fall through the first, I come out the second.

"You're too late," Trigon's booming voice silences everything going on in the enormous cave. Four fiery eyes appear on the cave wall. "Their destinies are being fulfilled as you watch!"

I let out a scream that continues as I begin to dissolve, much like the shadow twins dissolved. I begin to dissolve from my fingers and toes, and it slowly and painfully works its way up my body. Mood Swing rushes over to my side. As I dissolve, the pieces glow white and float to the eyes on the wall. I am becoming the elixir to bring Trigon to life.

"Sam! I…I know we always fought and stuff, but I really do love you. You're my brother," Mood Swing says as tears begin to flow from his eyes.

"Joel, I know I was mean in the past, and I know we didn't always get along, but I always cared about you. You mean so much to me," I say with pain in my voice.

Mood Swing hugs me, and we cry together as I continue to dissipate.

"I swear. I swear on my life. I will avenge you Sam. You will not be forgotten. I will find a way to bring you back.""

"I will always live on in your heart. We're brothers. We share a bond. Take this," I pull a necklace over my head and hand it to my brother. Engraved on the small round stone is a psychic eye symbol. "As long as that eye glows, you know I'm still alive. It glows brighter the closer you are to me. If it goes out, you know that I'm gone. Keep it with you, that way a part of me is always with you."

We give one more embrace, and I dissolve into nothing as Mood Swing falls to his knees and cries bitterly while clutching the necklace close to his heart.

Raven then begins to glow from within as an orb of light forms in her abdomen. "Bryon! SAVE ME!" All of a sudden Geo-Force begins to glow in a white light, and he takes Raven's hands in his. The glowing orb begins to decrease in size.

"I love you Raven."
"I love you too Bryon," Raven says with tears filling her eyes.

"I…I'm afraid I can't keep this from happening for much longer."

"I know, but I can keep you safe."

"How?"

"Our spirit bond, it will keep you safe no matter what. But you can't do this alone. You can't fight him without help. But I can't save all of them Bryon. I…I don't know which ones. I love them all, they're all my friends," Raven begins to cry again.

Bryon looks around and starts to say names of the people he wants to help him. "Robin, he will lead if anything should happen to me." Raven nods, and Robin begins to glow with a red aura.

"Mood Swing, he has lost his brother through this, if anyone should help, it's him." Mood Swing glows with a color changing aura.

"Terra, my sister knows me better than anyone other than you. She will fight by my side until the bitter end." Terra glows yellow.

"Starfire, her passion, and the betrayal her sister has made to this planet will make her a strong ally." Starfire glows a brilliant orange.

"I'm afraid that's all I can save my love. Look around you, this is your team until you can stop Trigon and save the world."

The four heroes chosen by Geo-Force gather around.

"I have given you the power to fight my father, and have made you a hope to the world. You are the Titans of the Armageddon. Only you can save this world. Only you can find the way to completely destroy the essence of all evil."

The glowing orb once again begins to slowly engulf Raven as she once again becomes the portal for Trigon to enter the world.

"Goodbye…friends…" And with a final brilliant flash of light, Raven is gone.

The ground begins to shake as the portal is opened. The spinning disc of flame and light lowers itself to the ground, and a figure begins to form as it rises to exit the portal.

"Come on, we have to leave, there isn't much time," Robin says.

"What about the others? We can't just leave them here!" Terra shouts over the roar.

"We'll be fine," Beast Boy says to Terra. "We'll to our best to keep him from coming through for as long as we can so you can get away and create a plan of attack."

"Besides, if y'all defeat him we'll all be fine," Cyborg says solemnly.

"We shall defeat him," Starfire says with confidence. "There will be no if about it. We have done it once before, we can and will do it again."

"Well aren't we the brave ones, off to face the incarnation of all evil, actually believing you're going to win," Blackfire mocks.

"You will have nothing to say sister! You have betrayed every last one of us. Trigon is not out only to destroy this world, but every world in existence…including Tamaran!"

"You think I actually care about Tamaran? You're even more deluded than I thought sister. If you remember, I was willing to sell Tamaran, AND you to the Gordanians. I do not care for Tamaran, and I do not care for you!"

"Whatever Trigon has promised you, I wish that you will receive not only that, but the due punishment you deserve. You shall always be my sister, but I shall NEVER forget the shame you have brought on our family name."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Starfire, we have to go!" Geo-Force shouts.

"Take care sister, dear. We shall meet again," Blackfire calls to her sister as she heads towards the exit.

"You can count on that sister, you can count on that."

Blackfire soars out the cavern exit, and the five Titans also move towards it. The rest of the heroes that weren't chosen as Earth's protectors, stay behind to do their best to keep Trigon at bay for as long as they can. But they all know that their fate has been damned to being petrified in stone as the Earth dies until the chosen ones have succeeded in destroying Trigon and setting them all free.

It's been a few hours since Trigon finally made it through the portal and the five chosen Titans made it out of the cavern, leaving their friends behind. The Earth was quickly engulfed in flames and what was once living has turned to stone. The only things left alive are the chosen five, Blackfire, wherever she may have gone to, and Trigon himself.

Deep underground, the Titans have set up a temporary base of operations where they can decide what exactly they need to do to defeat Trigon.

"Ok team, we need a game plan," Robin says."I say we hit him with everything we've got!" Terra starts.

"We will attack him with a fierce might and take back what the Trigon has taken from us…our friends," Starfire adds.

"But what bout Psy?" Mood Swing interjects.

"And Raven!" Geo-Force comments.

"Well, the last time we faced Trigon, I went in search of Raven, and Starfire, Beast Boy and Cyborg stayed behind and kept Trigon busy. I doubt he'll fall for the same trick twice. He knows that if we find Raven and Psy that there's a chance he'll lose. He can't afford that."

"So what needs to be done this time?" Starfire asks.

"We need to do the best we can to hit him with what we've got first. Then when we have him where we want him, then we can send someone in search of Raven and Psy. But first things first…we have to face Trigon."

The group all silently nods in agreement, and prepares for the battle against Trigon the Terrible.

"Trigon! You know that we are opponents that you can't look down on despite our size. We have fought you before and sent you back where you belong. Stand up and fight us!" Robin yells at the silent form of Trigon.

"Yes," Trigon says without opening his eyes. "I do know that you are powerful humans, and I also realize that there are five of you this time, three of which I have not encountered before. I will not underestimate you, but I will also not fight you. For I know what you plan to do later. You plan to go find my son and daughter. The truth of the matter is, you will only find one of them, and it won't be the one most of you are hoping for. Your savior, this time, is non-existent. There is no hope for your kind, so I shall let you survive…for now."

"I don't think so," Geo-Force yells. "We said fight us, and we mean fight us. We're not going to let you ignore us. If you won't fight us, we'll use everything we have against you while you sit there."

"Titans, GO!" Robin cries.

Geo-Force and Starfire shoot up into the sky and start firing lava blasts and starbolts at Trigon's face, while on the ground Terra pulls giant boulders and chunks of rocks out of the ground and hurls them at him with all her might at his upper body. The stripes on Mood Swing's uniform glow a brilliant crimson color, and plasma energy forms around his hands as he shoots a beam of red plasma energy at the demon's torso. Robin leaps into action and throws multiple exploding discs at Trigon's knees. At the impact of all these attacks, Trigon is sent reeling backwards, tips over a boulder, and falls into the lava that fills the once blue oceans. He shakes off the blow and stands up.

"Impressive, but not quite impressive enough I'm afraid." He opens his mouth and sends out a psionic pulse that should normally destroy whatever it touches, but out of nowhere, a black shield forms around each of the Titans.

"Raven?" Geo-Force cries out.

"No, not Raven…us! She's done it again," Robin replies. "Raven, in her last moment, gave us her power. She gave us a way to fight Trigon once again. Titans, together!"

The Titans all glow in the color they took when they were being chosen, as they take each other's hands and prepare to do battle against Trigon. They take each other's hands in their own and focus. Their feet rise off the ground as they chant the familiar words of Raven.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" they all shout.

A brilliant rainbow colored blast shoots out toward Trigon and hits him square in the chest, knocking him not only to the ground, but for the first time…unconscious! As the Titan's feet touch the ground, Robin looks to Geo-Force and Mood Swing.

"Go! Now, while he's still unconscious! We can handle him, the two of you go look for Psy and Raven, that necklace Psy gave you will lead you to them in theory."

"But we cant just…," Bryon starts.

"Bryon Anthony Markov!" Terra shouts, cutting her brother off mid-sentence. "You do what Robin says and go find the twins….NOW!"

Bryon blushes a deep shade of red and turns to Mood Swing."

"You heard her. Ready to go?"

"I was ready from the moment Psy disappeared. I've only been waiting on you."

"Then let's go. The necklace?"

"It's still glowing, but it's dim. We're gonna have to travel around the world until the eye glows really bright to find them."

"Then where do we start?"

"Why do you not start where they were born, in Azarath?" Starfire asks.

"How do we even get there?" Bryon asks.

"Well, we could start by these powers that Raven gave us. See if they lead us anywhere." Mood Swing offers.

Bryon nods. "Let's go. Are you sure you guys can handle this?"

"Hey, we've beaten him before, we can do it again," Robin says confidently.

Terra walks over and hugs her brother. "Be careful Bryon, Markovia will never be able to live on without a king like you."

"My sister, Markovia will live on. For if I do not return, they will have a queen like none other."

Meanwhile, Starfire walks over to Mood Swing and takes his hands in her own. "Do not fear friend." She said to him, for the stripes on his uniform had turned green. "You shall find your brother and return to us safely. Family bonds, as Psy has shown me recently, are like no other. Even the bond between Raven and Geo-Force is not the same as the bond between siblings. Even if you lose the necklace that your brother gave you, the bond you have with him will lead you to him. Just listen you your heart."

Mood Swing looks up into the loving eyes of Starfire, and hugs her. "Thanks Star, I needed that."

The Titans say their final goodbyes, and Joel and Bryon head off in search of the twins of prophecy that will hopefully save the world they unwillingly helped bring and end to…once again.